10: War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy

spools of suffering set out in ordered rows

military language - sibilance - endless/ongoing

as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass

simile - he wants to put them to rest - to help - guilt

he has a job to do/without words to do what someone must

his job has to be done - can’t let memories/suffering distract - emotionless - could be anyone

beneath his hands, which did not tremble then

what he witnessed has affected him physically

ordinary pain

war has warped his perspective

fields which don’t explode beneath feet/ which simple weather can dispel … children in a nightmare heat

repetition - confusion of past and present - what he saw shouldn’t be real

a stranger’s features faintly start to twist

shows agony - confusion of present moment

blood stained / a hundred agonies in black-and-white

the violence is clear and permanent

reader’s eyeballs prick / between the bath and the pre-lunch beers/ they do not care

outsiders don’t connect to the people they are desensitized

rhyme

highlights the repetitive photo development process and the the ongoing conflict